Afraid to Ask

Well, I guess all good things must come to an end and it did last night for the Rangers. A 6-4 loss at Detroit brought an end to a fabulous 9-game win streak. The Rangers continued to mash with Shrek and Hidalgo going deep. Ryan Drese was cruising, until he hit the wall in the 7th. The Motor City Kitties plated 5 runs in the 7th. Former Ranger, Ugueth Urbina, notched the save by striking out Hidalgo, Andres Torres and David Dellucci in the 9th.

Today, Chris Young takes the mound in a 12:00 Noon (CDT) first pitch. With the game on FSSW, I wonder if Jeanne might be so kind as to let me "work" at home this afternoon?

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I can't wait until 4:00 this afternoon. For the first time in what seems like 6 months, Mandy and I are going out on a date! It's been far too long to steal away for an evening together, which makes the anticipation of an evening with my wife (without kids for a change!) so inviting.

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Questions are never a dangerous thing. Asking hard questions of the text of Scripture and of long-held beliefs are never a dangerous thing. If those long-held conclusions are true, they will not falter under any weight of scrutiny. The quest brought on by the tough questions might just deepen my faith in the faith. How could that ever be a bad thing?

Has our fellowship strayed from the Restoration ideal? Have we gotten away from providing a safe environment for people to ask tough questions? Do tough questions scare us?

One of the cornerstones of our heritage has been a freedom to think. For individual Christians to take the Word in their own hands and study for themselves. The problem (if you deem it to be a problem, "challenge" might be a better term) with that ideal is sometimes two different, sincere Christians might arrive at different conclusions. The quest through the tough questions might lead to two different destinations for two different people. In those moments, what do we do?

We forfeit our competitive drive to be right for the sake of the relationship!

"Welcome with open arms fellow believers who don't see things the way you do. And don't jump all over them every time they do or say something you don't agree with -- even when it seems that they are strong on opinions but weak in the faith department. Remember, they have their own history to deal with. Treat them gently...So let's agree to use all our energy in getting along with each other. Help others with encouraging words; don't drag them down by finding fault" (Romans 14 from The Message ).